Absent from much of the reporting is not only did Hill laugh when asked about a “kill the gays” law, he did not correct the man who suggested it. Not only did he not correct him, but Hill also said he believes being gay is a choice.

“It’s a behavior, and it’s a choice,” Hill told attendees at a meeting of Women for Responsible Legislation, rejecting the idea that LGBT people should be a protected class. “You can say, ‘But I was born that way.’ OK, well, fine, but nobody’s forcing you to engage in that relationship, even if you were born that way.”

Also absent from many reports is that Hill did not only laugh, he engaged in the anti-LGBT rhetoric, noting that killing gay people is called for “in the Old Testament.”

Now, through a right wing talk radio host, Hill has issued a statement, as the Tampa Bay Times reports. That statement was not posted to his social media accounts or to his website.

The statement is not an apology.

It begins with him calling himself a “Bible believing Christian.”

He goes on to explain that “one man I had never met said the Bible in 1 Corinthians calls for a man having an affair with another man to be put to death.”

Hill then corrects the constituent’s misreading of the Bible verse.

“If the man was referring to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, that text says nothing about anyone being put to death. It simply states people who practice various sins will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

And then he apologizes – for not pointing out the man’s inaccurate quote.

“I apologize for not directly responding to the fact that the premise for this question was inaccurate,” Hill writes. “I deeply regret how the tone of my response to a constituent was received at this event. I believe that no matter one’s race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, economic status or otherwise, that all lives are created equal in the image of God.”

Here’s the statement:

FL State Rep. @MikeHillFL just released this statement/apology about the accusations that he entertained an outrageous comment from a man calling for legislation to execute gay people.

Wednesday morning Hill did post to his Twitter account an opinion piece published in a far right wing website. It’s titled, “Florida Rep. Mike Hill vs. the gay establishment,” which is astonishingly misleading, given all who have denounced his behavior.

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Franklin Graham Promotes Anti-Gay Chick-fil-A and Attacks College Group as ‘The Ones Fostering Hate and Bigotry’

Franklin Graham has turned his Facebook-based ministry into one that frequently attacks the LGBTQ community, and Wednesday proved to be no different. The Evangelical leader with strong ties to President Donald Trump took to Facebook to promote Chick-fil-A, the $10 billion privately-owned faith-based fast food restaurant chain. And he blasted a college faculty group trying to keep the divisive restaurant from their campus.

“Guess where I ate lunch yesterday? Yes, at Chick-fil-A,” Graham bragged on Facebook. “They are always packed for a reason. Their restaurants are clean, and not only do they have a great chicken sandwich, but they have one of my favorite iced teas!”

Graham went on to claim that “at Kansas University, some progressive staff and administrators—are accusing Chick-fil-A of being a ‘bastion of bigotry’ and they don’t want them on campus. The Sexuality & Gender Diversity Faculty and Staff Council says Chick-fil-A ‘fosters hate and discrimination on multiple levels.’ That’s just simply not true.”

“This council and group of faculty are the ones fostering hate and bigotry, not Chick-fil-A!” Graham insisted, twisting the truth.

“All of this is because the founder Truett Cathy and his son Dan Cathy stood for traditional marriage and the business has donated to support some Christian charities,” Graham said.

Again, not true.

The Cathy family didn’t just stand for “traditional marriage.” They made offensive remarks about same-sex marriage, and again, they didn’t just donate to “some Christian charities.” They donated those millions of dollars to some very actively anti-gay organizations.

Dan Cathy, now the chairman, president, and CEO of Chick-fil-A, has attacked marriage equality, saying, if you support same-sex marriage, you “are inviting God’s judgment on our nation,” and that we “shake our fist at Him” when we do.

That’s not just standing up for Christian beliefs.

Cathy also said same-sex marriage is the result of a “deprived” mind and called it “twisted up kind of stuff.”

Trump Administration Urges US Supreme Court to Declare Firing a Worker for Being Gay Is Legal

The Trump administration has just urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that firing an employee simply because they are gay is perfectly legal. The request comes in the form of a 34-page amicus brief, which was not required, but voluntary.

The brief, signed by Trump Solicitor General Noel Francisco, tells the Court it is the opinion of the administration’s Dept. of Justice that a “plain text” reading of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect gay people in the workplace from discrimination, including firing for being gay, as The Washington Blade, which was first to report, notes.

“The question here is not whether Title VII should forbid employment discrimination because of sexual orientation, but whether it already does,” the brief says. “The statute’s plain text makes clear that it does not; discrimination because of ‘sex’ forbids treating members of one sex worse than similarly situated members of the other — and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, standing alone, does not result in such treatment.”

President Trump has also stated he will not sign the Equality Act, which would specify that the Civil Rights of Act of 1964 does protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.

The Supreme Court will hear three cases related to anti-LGBTQ discrimination on October 8.

The move is consistent with the entirety of the Trump administration’s policies and actions.

Baptists Unanimously Vote Out Lesbian Couple Over Same-Sex Marriage: ‘It Was More Out of Spite’

A lesbian couple from Mississippi says they were asked to leave their Baptist church over their relationship.

Mary Catherine Trollinger and her partner Olivia Jennings were notified by letter that they were no longer welcome at Gracewood Baptist Church in Southaven, where they met last year, reported WATN-TV.

Their pastor, Barry Baker, signed the letter, which stated he had warned them against pursuing an “unbiblical” and “degrading” same-sex relationship, and told the couple they had been unanimously — and “sadly” — voted out during a special business meeting at the church.

“I told you that the church could not allow you to live in unrepentant disobedience without addressing it,” Baker wrote. “We love you too much to neglect you.”

“Not only did my mom say you can’t live here,” Trollinger said, “but my church said you can’t go here and it was in the same day, so I was pretty heartbroken was in a deep depression for a few months there.”

The couple met at Gracewood while Trollinger was serving as college director there, and they were asked to leave the church months ago, which they did, before they were officially voted out as members.

“It’s one thing if you send out a letter that’s generic, just a template, but it’s another thing to personalize the letter,” Trollinger said. “In that sense, all the things that were said it wasn’t out of love, it was more out of spite.”

The church declined to comment on the letter or the couple’s membership.